Cautionary Tales For Children
Wonderful witty poems great for reading to your children. The stories and rhymes will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Research has shown how important YOU are to your children and how as a dad the things you do, and keep on doing, really count, whether you live with them, or you are a single dad and are only able see them once a month, once a week or more, what you do really matters. This site is dedicated to all dads but will be of special relevance to the single dad. Remember, you are half the reason your children exist and they need you whether you live with them or not. As their dad, you have what it takes to make their lives successful and fulfilling no matter how often you see them. This site is about all the positive things that we as parents have to offer our children.

Make your own TARDIS its easier than it looks and is a whole galaxy better than a shop bought one
When the BBC decided to bring back Dr. Who, a whole new generation of kids got bitten by the Time Lord bug. . . .
My kids were no different, and so we decided to make a TARDIS. For anyone who doesnít know what this is, a TARDIS is a time machine in the shape of an old Police Telephone Box (much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside!). For all those who thought Bill and Ted invented time travel in a call box, Dr. Who first came to TV in 1963, over 40 years ago. But then 40 years is just a blink of an eye to an immortal from another galaxy, and so the magic of Dr. Who is the same now as it ever was.. . .
If you havenít seen the show, I recommend the series on DVD as almost essential viewing for anyone aged 8 and over (some scenes may be a bit scary for younger viewers).. . .
To make your TARDIS you really need to use foamboard, and to finish it off a flashing LED, but these are not big hurdles, because you can easily and cheaply buy both on-line from various merchants.. . .
Print out the graphic sheet and decide what size you want to make your TARDIS (there are three sizes of graphics available). I used the largest graphics which made a TARDIS about 360mm high with a cross section square of about 150mm x 150mm.
Make the dream come true; well nearly. Once you have made your model you can make it even more exciting by taking a photo of it and super imposing you kids on or by the model. To do this you will need some image retouching software and a bit of practice, so this is not for everyone. However, if you can do this sort of thing, it doesnít take long and isnít that difficult. All you have to do is take a close up photo of the model at the right angle, and then with the same lighting take a picture of your children as if they were interacting with a full sized version of the model. Then cut out your children (but leave them in their setting) and arrange them onto a new image layer, then cut out the image of your model and drop it in to the picture of your children, in between them and their background. If you want a really authentic look, draw some shadows on to the picture, and hey prestoÖ in this case a real TARDIS. Print it out and use as a postcard or party invite.

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We can't wait to see the pictures of what youíve made. Kids love it when the things you made together are published, so go on upload a picture of what you made. It's easy, just go to your dadcando My Page and upload your pictures into this project and we'll put one of them right here in the project picture gallery.

To give you the higest quality and the shortest download time, most of our downloads are supplied in Adobe PDF format for your convenience. Adobe Reader is standard on most computers, but if you do not have it, you can get the most up to date version free from Adobe, here.

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Advanced models

Once you have made a few models and toys from junk with your kids, theyíll begin to think of things that they would like to make from scratch. My kids usually start with the phrase, ĎDad - can we make something?í Unless you follow a ready made project plan, working out what you are going to make is sometimes the hardest part of the project, and if you donít know what you are making at the start, you invariably end up with an unrewarding mess at the end.

At the planning stage, you are governed by four things: The available materials, your tools, your and your kid's ability and the time you have.
The good news is that there are making projects to fit any mix of abilities and facilities. Your materials will be a mixture of junk lying around the house, and the odd bit of some special stuff that you can buy very cheaply. The equipment that you need can almost be limited to a glue gun, some spray paint and a permanent maker. That just leaves your skill level, and to be frank, you donít need much to make a nice model or toy with your kids that they will love.

When you have decided what you want to make, the first thing to do is get yourself some reference. Search the web and have a look at pictures of the real version of what your kids want to make. Print some off to guide you.

This ray Gun was based on a weapon in one of my childrenís favourite games console games, Ratchet and Clank.

Once you have your reference pictures, have a look at what materials you have. Old plastic bottles, boxes, and bits of card are the obvious ones, but get creative. Think of all the things you have in the attic, shed or garden. An old plastic football, a bit of garden hose, a toothbrush, or a piece of aluminium grille are all great starting points for a neat project.

The great thing about making something from a console game is that it gets the kids off the game and into some really imaginative play, running round the house or garden, while still feeding into the world of their game.

If you can, use the computer design and print out label and graphics that will enhance your model. Dadcando's TARDIS project is really finished off by printouts of the Police Phone Call Box sign, and the smaller door sign, and on this project, we have already drawn up and laid them out to make the job really easy.

But you might need something more than just junk, if you are going to make really realistic models. Foam Board is a superb model making material, which will enable you to make just about anything which has a box like shape. The TARDIS and K9 were both made almost entirely from Foam Board. For things that have curves, where no plastic packaging is suitable, youíll have to resort to Polymorph, papier mache, or Plaster of Paris bandage.
To use Plaster of Paris bandage, simply cut it into 300mm (1 foot) long sections off the roll and pull through a saucer of water. Itís very messy, but great fun and dries overnight to a hard finish. Itís great for scenery, very satisfying to use and easy to paint with water based paints when it is dry.

To add the finishing touches to an advanced model, nothing works better than a bit of light. LEDs (light emitting diodes) are brilliant for this. They are low power, low current drain (meaning that they last a long time on the same battery), they can be very bright and are small, so they can be put almost anywhere in a model or homemade toy. You can find out more about LEDs in the Useful Stuff You Need section on dadcando.com.

Featured Project

MicroCards
MicroCards are
miniature playing cards that can be printed out on one sheet of paper.
Just cut them out and play on the go!